The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to conveyors that spread out conveyed cans from one width to a wider width on a transfer device between two conveyors.
In a beverage plant, newly formed, lightweight aluminum cans are conveyed atop conveyor belts to a can washer to wash machine fluids and debris from the cans. The cans, which do not have tops yet, are conveyed on their cut edges, open end down. The infeed conveyor belt to the can-washing machine is wider than the discharge conveyor belt that conveys the cans from the can-forming machine. The wider belt is operated at a lower speed than the narrower belt to allow the cans to accumulate on the wider belt. The backpressure of the mass of cans upstream causes the cans on the slower-moving wide belt to spread across the wider width. But, as the cans are spreading, the backpressure causes some of the cans to tip over onto their sides. Seams and other discontinuities in the conveying surfaces of the belts can also catch on the thin bottom edges of the cans and cause tipping. Furthermore, the backpressure can also cause cans to permanently deform enough to be unusable. When a deadplate is used to transfer cans from one belt to the other, cans can be stranded on the deadplate in the absence of backpressure. Manual intervention is required to right tipped cans, remove damaged cans, and transfer stranded cans from the deadplate to the wider conveyor belt.